A QR code on the label that follows the work after the sale

A label gives the title, the medium, the dimensions and sometimes the price. Everything else won't fit: your approach, the story of the piece, the other works in the series, how to reach you. A discreet QR code leads to all of that. Because it's dynamic, it stays useful when the price changes, when the work sells, and long afterwards for whoever bought it.

What goes behind the code for a work

Three formats work well, depending on what you already have.

The link page has an edge during an exhibition: you can edit its text from your phone, in the middle of the opening if need be. The price drops, a print is reserved, the work sells. You type it in a few seconds and the label stays as it is.

• A link page: the title of the work, a 300-character description, a photo, then buttons to your website, the series, your social accounts and a contact.
• A one-page PDF: a detailed sheet with images, an artist statement and a biography.
• The address of a page on your website, if each work already has its own.

After the sale

A code stuck to the back of a canvas, or printed on the document you hand over with the work, stays readable for years. The buyer finds the sheet and your contact details there, for another purchase or an invitation to your next show. You can swap the destination for a version without the price, then keep it alive with your news.

The code keeps redirecting even if you stop your subscription. That's a Scanolo commitment on every plan: if you go back to the Free plan with more than three codes, the extra ones can no longer be edited, but they still lead to their last destination.

The code doesn't prove the work is authentic. It points to a page you keep up to date, nothing more, and it doesn't replace a signed certificate.

Size and position on the label

A label is read from 30 to 50 cm away, and a code of 2.5 to 3 cm per side is enough. Put it in a corner with a few millimetres of white margin, on matt paper to avoid glare from spotlights. On the back of a work, 2 cm on a sticker will do.

• A line under the code, such as “Approach and price” or “Find out more”.
• Your brand colour if the contrast stays strong, but never light modules on a dark background.
• A logo in the centre only if it stays small, otherwise the code becomes hard to read.
• SVG export, or vector PDF from the Starter plan up, for whoever prints your labels.

For a gallery

A gallery hanging thirty or forty pieces per show soon goes past Starter's 25 codes. The Pro plan, at €19 excl. VAT a month, goes up to 250 codes, three members and CSV import: a spreadsheet with each work's name and the address of its page on your website, and the codes are created in one go. Codes from a finished exhibition can be reused for the next one by changing their destination.

Each code's statistics show which works get scanned, day by day and hour by hour. During an art fair, that's one indicator among others, to weigh against what you see on the stand.

Frequently asked questions